A Knight to a Dragon
by Deadly Night Angel
Summary: After two weeks from battling Drakonis with Sierra and Larc, Artemis Heroine competes in the battle tournament in Bejeweled City. When Elazul notices his feelings, a potion turns him into a Kid Dragon! Will he turn to normal and tell her his feelings?
1. Chapter 1

Hey all! This is my first Legend of Mana fic and this is only going to be said once. Disclaimer: I don't own LOM! The company does. I'm doing this to please the LOM fans. Thank you. Oh by the way, my heroine's name is Artemis. Thanks. –Leaves the room.

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The Bejeweled City

(Home)

Artemis was sleeping on her quilted, comfy bed while the sun rose above and shone through the window to her face. She sat up slowly and stopped as she blinked her eyes and let out a yawn. A huge crash ruined her moment as it was heard throughout the house. She tensed as she put her shoes on and walked by Little Cactus with a hello. She walked downstairs to find Lisa frantically brushing a pile of cracked china with her father's broom as Bud was running around worriedly with his mother's pan in his hand trying to fix everything up.

"What's been broken!" she exclaimed angrily. Artemis was definitely not a morning person. "Well, Lisa did this-." "No, it was Bud who did-." "No, it was you!" They screamed at each other. They continued to squabble as Artemis's new headache was beginning to increase. Her head started to pass the limit as she screamed, "Silence!" They stopped yelling and looked at her with big eyes. "Lisa, clean the pile up, Bud, go help your sister, and you two, do your chores."

She said as she puts her hand to her head. They nodded as they started to do what they're told as her headache grew less hurtful. She walked over to the door and looked at them. "When I get back, I will see the house is clean and if it is, I'll bring something good for you." She said as she walked out, hearing their cheers of glee.

She walked out and closed the door to see the mailbox was opened with a letter inside. Curious, she reached it and took it out. She looked at it and examined it. It was an ordinary letter, but had a stamp of a lighted city. "This must be from Bejeweled City." She said excitedly as she opened the letter. She just came back from helping Sierra saving Larc from Drakonis. She looked as she read it aloud, "Artemis, I've haven't heard from or seen you a while. I'm checking to see if you're okay since Pearl kept bugging me to find you and you're my friend. Anyway, there's going to be tournament here in Bejeweled City. A tournament that challenges knights and guardians to test strength, hardship, patience, and teamwork, Diana asked of you to join watching the tournament since you're the race's savior and honored to have you attend. Pearl and me are going to enter because we're both qualified for the tournament. Hope to see you at the tournament. Your friend, Elazul."

She smiled as she thought aloud, "So, he now calls me friend." She jumped down from the hill and walked down to see the Sproutling walking on her sidewalk. He smiled in his childish way and said, "Hello, Artemis." She smiled and said hello as she walked out from her home and into Domina.

(Bejeweled City)

She arrived at the entrance where there were Jumis running up the pathway to the gate. She looked as she ran up after them until they stopped in front of the gate. A green Rubens was changing the crystals as the gate changed to a different one with torches on the wall. They ran inside as Artemis looked at it weird. "Funny, I didn't see that coming." She said as she walked inside.

Inside, the whole place was packed with Jumis talking to each other in excitement over the tournament. There was a yellow Diana running the registration desk, an orange Esmeralda announcing on a wireless microphone, and a blue Rubens assigning the teams into place. She looked through the crowds to find Elazul and Pearl. She jumped a little as she found them talking with Florina, Diana, and Rubens. She walked over there as they kept on talking. "Hey, Elazul, Pearl, Diana, Rubens." She called over as she walked over there. They turned to see Artemis walking over. Pearl jumped in joy as she ran and hugged Artemis tight. "Artemis, you've came!" she said holding her tight.

Artemis smiled as Elazul came over and Pearl stopped and stepped out of the way a little. Elazul stood in front of her and studied as she felt weird. She looked at the stern Jumi and asked sweetly, "Hey, Elazul, since when did you start calling me friend, friend?" He blush a little as Pearl came over and asked curiously, "Elazul, did you call her friend in your letter?" He blushed more as he turned around to hide it. Pearl and Artemis looked at each other and smiled. She came over and touched his shoulder. He looked at her as she smiled at him.

"Artemis, glad you've come. This is going to be the best tournament the whole race has ever seen." Diana said as she walked up with Rubens beside her protectively. "Yes, it will." Rubens said. "Hello, Artemis. Glad to see you again." Florina said nicely as she stepped up next to Diana. "Hey, Florina, so are you going to join the tournament?" she asked. "Yes, when Pearl and Elazul are done with their battles, then Pearl will change to Blackpearl and we'll do the rest." She explained as Diana nodded. "Artemis, the tournament will start in 4 minutes. Do you want to sit with us?" Rubens asked as they looked at her. "Oh, yes, but I want to stay here for a while, I'll come when I'm done." She said as she looked at them.

"Okay, we'll see at the top box." Florina said as they walked away. She turned around and started walking around the big room. She walked all over meeting other Jumi until she heard, "What? Sapphoe wouldn't come?" Esmeralda's voice exclaimed. She turned to see Esmeralda talking to the yellow Diana. "Sorry, Sapphoe called in and told me he's sick." She said to a shocked Esmeralda. "Wha?" she muttered. "Hey, Esmeralda, what's wrong?" Artemis asked as she walked up to them.

"Oh, Artemis, you've came!" Esmeralda exclaimed happily. "Anyway, I was about to enter the tournament with my knight, Sapphoe, the sapphire Jumi, but he now called in sick without me knowing first. I can't enter without a knight. I was hoping, could you become my temporary knight again? Please?" she asked as she looked down and rubbed her arm. "Well…" she said as she thought. "You should enter." Florina's voice came out of nowhere. "Florina!" Esmeralda exclaimed as they turned to the Fluorite Jumi. "You should enter the tournament and be Esmeralda's knight for a while. You can show what kind of skills you got to the Jumi race. Besides, Diana would be flattered to have you enter, said herself." Florina told her as Esmeralda nodded. "So, can you please my knight for a while?" Esmeralda asked again hoping.

"Sure, why not! I have nothing to fight in a while anyway." Artemis said calmly. Florina smiled with her eyes closed as Esmeralda shriek in joy and hugged her. "All right, sir knight! Let's show the whole race what we got!" Esmeralda said as she posed heroically. "I think you should say lady knight instead." Florina muttered as she shook her head. Artemis giggled at Esmeralda as she grabbed her hand and dragged her to the registration desk. "Excuse me; Esmeralda and Artemis are signing in." Esmeralda said as the yellow Diana looked at Artemis and said, "But she's not a Jumi." "No, but I agreed to be her knight till the end of the tournament, if that's okay." Artemis explained as the yellow Diana smiled.

"Of course, since you're our savior. We're glad to have you battle in this special event. Good luck." She said as she gave them pamphlets. "Hey, Artemis, we're up first. Ready?" she asked. "As ever!" she exclaimed. "Yeah, let's go." She said as they ran into the locker room while they wait. "Hello, Bejeweled City! This is out first annual battle tournament in a decade. The knights and guardians will be testing each other's strength, patience, and teamwork to go up and battle Blackpearl and Florina." The guy on the speaker said. Everyone cheered in the stands as Elazul and Pearl were leaning against the railing looking at the arena that looks like the one in Kristina's basement.

"What's wrong, Elazul?" she asked as she looked at his face. "I don't know. It's a feeling, but I can't describe it and it feels strange." He said slowly. "A strange feeling?" Pearl questioned. "Yeah, whenever I'm with Artemis." He whispered. "What was that?" she asked not hearing it clearly. "Nothing." He said. "How's everything going?" Diana asked as she walked up to them with Florina and Rubens. "Good, but why are you here, shouldn't you be in the top box?" he asked confused. "We're here to see the battles and the top box is too high to see. Besides, we wouldn't want to miss this battle." Florina said as Diana nodded with her. "Wouldn't miss what?" they asked. "You'll see." Rubens said as they faced the arena. "The first battle today is starting now. Here are our lucky competitors. Aqua and Black Sapphoe." The announcer said as a blue Esmeralda and a black Rubens came walking up. The crowds cheered as they waved like they won.

"They would be battling against Esmeralda-," Esmeralda came out walking as Aqua laughed at her cruelly. "Wha, Esmeralda, thinks she can take on me and Black Sapphoe, in your dreams." She retorted as Esmeralda's face stood firm from crying. Black Sapphoe laughed at her with Aqua until the announcer continued breathlessly, ", and wouldn't you believe it! Oh, boy, wouldn't you believe it! The knight is the none other than the great, heroic, and the good-looking non-Jumi savior of our race, Artemis!"

The crowd went wild as Artemis came walking out with her Stargazer spear in her right hand. Elazul's and Pearl's face were shocked as they saw their friend stood by Esmeralda's side. "Look, Elazul, Artemis is in the battle!" Pearl exclaimed excitedly as she hopped. His face was still stun as he thought of her standing with pride and valor. He blushed as Pearl looked at him. "Elazul?" she questioned as he turned away. "Go, Artemis!" Florina, Diana, and Rubens cheered.

Aqua and Black Sapphoe stood there with their jaws touching the floor while staring at the human. "B-But that's not fair! She's not a Jumi!" Aqua wailed out. "No, but she accepted knighthood and she's my loyal knight." Esmeralda said with a smirk. "You can't side with the savior of the race! That's cheating!" Aqua wailed out again. "I side whoever I want to, but not obnoxious girls." Artemis said as Aqua shut her mouth. "Good one." Esmeralda said as she flashed a thumb up. "Everyone is cheering and screaming ready for the most suspenseful battle, knights, are you ready?" the announcer asked. Artemis looked at Esmeralda confused as she explained, "The knights battled first to see who's down and the knight who's down has to be replaced with the guardian, who fights next. Got it?" She nodded.

Artemis raised her Stargazer as Black Sapphoe raised his fists covered in dark flames. "We're going to make you cry!" Aqua shouted to them. "Eat this!" Esmeralda shouted too. "Let the battle begin!" the announcer shouted. Esmeralda and Aqua ran to the wall away from the battle where Artemis and Black Sapphoe are surrounded in a force field. Black Sapphoe shoved his hands in the air as the black flame shot and tried to hit her. She dodged and ran towards him for a quick attack. He tried to release some fire balls as she dodged them and ran up close. He screamed in fury as he let out a wave of flames. She used her spear to jump up high. Everyone watched with awe as she pulls out her flute and plays a playful tune. As she was playing it, an Undine came out and big waves of water came crashing down on Black Sapphoe like a tidal wave.

She puts it back as she landed on the wet floor looking at the drenched Black Sapphoe. He grinned at he was still standing and raised his hands to do another attack. When he tried to summon massive balls of fire, smoke came out of his clenched fists. He sweatdropped at this and pulled it back with a beaten laugh. She grinned back as she ran towards him and summoned a Lancer. After she struck him, not his core, he stood there with her behind him. He collapsed to his knees breathing lightly. "The knight is down, now the guardian will back up." The announcer said. Aqua came out scared as Esmeralda came out to look. She moved in front of her as Artemis waited for her to start the battle.

As Artemis reached to tap her spear on the ground, Aqua gasped and fainted on the floor beside Black Sapphoe. The whole arena was quiet as Artemis looked at Aqua confused and Esmeralda tried not to laugh. Someone coughed in arena coughed as the crickets chirped loudly. "That was kind of awkward, but the battle goes to Esmeralda and Artemis!" the announcer exclaimed as everyone cheered again including Pearl, Elazul, Florina, Diana, and Rubens. Artemis stood there as Esmeralda came up and raised both of their hands up. "You did well, sir knight!" Esmeralda exclaimed as Artemis grinned.

Elazul watched them walked off the arena and into the locker room. He headed there with Pearl and Florina as Diana and Rubens watched the other matches. They past through crowds as they made to a door that said, 'locker room.' They opened to see lockers with lots of Jumi, who are going to fight in the first stage. Pearl spotted them sitting next to Marine, Aqua's totally opposite sister, and Pinkpearl, a pink Pearl. "That was amazing! No wonder you defeated that evil Jewel Hunter with Pearl and Elazul." Pinkpearl said as she talked to Artemis. "You must have begged on your hands and knees to get her to be you're knight." Marine said to Esmeralda.

"It's not like that." Esmeralda said as they walked up. "Artemis, Esmeralda, can we talk along?" Florina asked nicely. "We're just leaving anyway, right, Pinkpearl?" Marine said as she dragged Pinkpearl away. "Right?" she said confused. Florina and Pearl squealed as they hugged Artemis and Esmeralda. "That was incredible." Florina replied. "It almost gave Aqua a fright of her life." Pearl said as she smiled. "You should teach me that someday." Pearl said as she hopped. "Black Sapphoe was never the kind to 'think first, before act' guy, he's seems more 'hurt first, ask questions later' guy." Esmeralda said with a smile on her face.

Florina looked at Elazul and understood what's going on. "Pearl, Esmeralda, I need to tell you something very important." She said as she pulled them by their hands. "Okay." They chorused as they walked out. Elazul looked down as Artemis looked at him confused. She walked up close and looked at him straight in the eyes. "There something wrong?" she asked as her green eyes shined. He looked at her and smiled a little. "That…-." He started to say. She waited for the response. "Was a beginner's luck." He said. Her face broke out in surprise as he chuckled a little. She smiled as she pushed him playfully. "Since when did you have a sense of humor?" she asked. "Since the race has been saved and I returned home." He said as she remembered.

"Oh, so that why you called me friend in the letter?" she asked again. "Well, you're my best friend other than Pearl." He said as he looked away hiding the blush. "Oh, I'm the best friend, ya!" she exclaimed amusingly. "Yeah, where have you been for the last two weeks? Bud and Lisa said that you were out and didn't told me nothing." He said as he looked at her curiously for an answer. "Well…" she started. "Oh, so you were around Larc and Sierra, two dog dragoons." He said as she nodded. "Yup, everything's back to normal now and they are back together from this treacherous war." She said as she looked at him.

"Enough about me, how are you doing? You dating Pearl or any Jumi?" she asked curiously. "N-No. I've been fine here and I usually go around and beat up monsters for practice and fun. Pearl is changing to Blackpearl every time guarding Florina as the other Jumi minded their business." He said as he blushed little. "I'm a knight with no guardian, a misfit of my race." She looked at him sadly as she said, "You're no misfit if you've helped the Jumi get back together and live in this city. Besides, would you be a misfit if you helped me beat the Lord of Jewels by myself?" she said as she pointed to her. He shook his head with a grin on his face. "Thought so." She said as she smiled.

"Everyone, that's all for today, come back tomorrow after a good night's rest." The announcer said as everyone walked out of the stadium. "Huh?" she questioned. "The tournament is ended now until tomorrow. It's 8:47 p.m." Elazul said while looking at her. "But it was 9:45 a.m, when I came here." She said with a moan. "You know what they say, 'Time flies when you're having fun.'" He said as he walked away with her behind. After that, Artemis was invited to sleep at Elazul's house as Pearl knows how much time he needs with her. She slept beside him on his queen-sized bed as she leaned against his back and put her head on her shoulders. He felt her so close; he was blushing red and felt hot. She wrapped her arms around him, not knowing what she was doing as he tensed and relaxed. He flipped around and wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned his head with hers listening to each other's breaths.

TBC

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That so long! Thanks for reading. R+R.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, thanks for reviewing and here's the chapter.-DNA

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Winning for the Prize

(Bejeweled City)

Next morning, Artemis was lying next to Elazul, who draped his arm around her waist and lay against her head. She woke up slowly as she stood from her bed, but stopped by Elazul's arm. She turned to Elazul too close to her as she looked at his arm. She smiled as she moved his arm off and rubbed his green hair softly. She stood up and walked over to the other room to freshen up. Pearl came walking and saw Elazul lying on his bed. She walked over there and looked at him. He was muttering words lowly and she couldn't hear. She leaned in to listen until he grabbed her and pulled her next to him. She silently yelped as he wrapped his arms around her like a snake.

"Artemis…" Elazul muttered in his sleep. 'Artemis?' Pearl questioned in her mind. "Don't go back. Please stay here. With me." He mumbled while tightening his grip on Pearl. Pearl was about to choke when he loosened a little. She tried to get out of his grip, but can't. She sighed in defeat as he mumbled again, "Say that you'll stay with me forever." Pearl decided to play along. "I-I'll stay with you, Elazul, and be with you forever by your side." She mimicked Artemis's voice. He smiled as he let her go and turned around. She got out of bed fast as she blushed wildly. 'So, he has a crush on Artemis? I knew it! I knew those two will be the cutest couple in Jumi History!' she thought as she smiled.

"Hello, Pearl, what are you doing here?" Artemis's voice came out. She tensed as she turned to see Artemis walking out with her newly-iron dress and holding her spear. "Hey, Artemis, I'm here to check on you and Elazul. It's the second part of the tournament today and they wouldn't want you two to miss it." Pearl said as she held her hands. "Okay, but we need to get Elazul out of bed." Artemis said as she walked over. "I'm already up." Elazul said as he stood up from his bed and rubbed his head in a daze. "Alright, let's go then." Artemis said as she walked out with them followed behind.

The stadium was packed like the last time with the Jumi gossiping about the other Jumi. They walked in as Florina came up to them with Rubens behind her. "Good morning." Florina greeted them. "Hey." Artemis greeted her back. She looked and saw Diana nowhere. "Where's Diana and Esmeralda?" she asked Rubens. "She's with Quince talking some important business and Esmeralda is taking care of Sapphoe and talking about your victory yesterday." He answered with a nod. "Quince?" she asked confused. "He's the Quartz Jumi." Florina replied. "The second part is about to begin. Elazul, Pearl, you need to hurry." Rubens said to them. "Okay, see you later, Artemis." Pearl said as she scurried off to the locker room. "…" Elazul walked off to the room as Artemis stared at him.

"Let's go, Artemis. We wouldn't want to miss the tournament." Rubens said as Florina nodded. She nodded as she followed them up to the stands and sat in front. Diana came walking towards them with a male Jumi walking behind her. "Morning, Artemis, sorry I'm late, got business to take of. Artemis, meet Quince, the Quartz Jumi, Quince, this is Artemis, the savior of our race and my friend." She said as she scooted a little to the right as the male Jumi stepped up. She stood up to greet him when her eyes widened as she looked at him. He was muscular, good-looking Jumi that resembled like Elazul. He has short white hair to his back of his head and had a long, white cape behind him and draped over his shoulders. He had on cuirass, long, white pants, white muscle shirt, and white shoes. He stepped forward with his hand out.

His dark blue eyes pierced her emerald green eyes as she took his hand and shook it. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Artemis." He said in a low voice. He smiled at her as she felt uncomfortable at that. "Likewise." She said as they pulled their hands away. "Quince, here, is the knight of Tayca, the Turquoise Jumi. Tayca is sick like Sapphoe and can't make it." Diana said as she sat next to Rubens. "Oh." She said as she sat next to Florina hoping he would go away. Quince walked over to Artemis and sat to her.

"Hello, everyone, this is the second part of the battle tournament today. Today's match will be Opal and Gold Sapphoe and Marine and Pinkpearl." The announcer told as they stepped up in the arena. As the force field was pulled up and Marine and Gold Sapphoe started fighting, Quince occasionally look at Artemis, more like staring as Artemis looked away not looking at him. When Marine hit Gold Sapphoe with her bow, Quince started to move his hand across his lap and to her hand. She saw this and used her hand to pull her hair behind her ear before he even touched it.

Elazul saw this from the locker room. Pearl was talking to Luna, the Moonstone Jumi, as he watched Artemis from the locker room. She stopped talking to her as she saw him watching. Curiously, she walked up to him and looked at he was looking at. "What are you looking at?" she asked. He jumped a little before turning to her and yelled, "Don't scare me like that again!" "I'm sorry. It's just that I was curious." She apologized as she blushed. "It's nothing." He replied before looking again. "It's Artemis, isn't it?" she said while looking at him. He tensed as his mind shrieked loud, 'How does she know?' He turned to her as she explained, "Well, when Artemis comes with us, you act weirdly more than usual and when you were sleeping, you muttered, "Please don't go, Artemis." You were silent while being with her and I guessed." She said while blushing.

He stopped as he nodded. She looked at him in surprise as he said, "Yes, it's Artemis." She nodded as she trotted to him. "She's with that Quince and he's trying to put those moves on her like he did to you." He said before looking at her. Her eyes widened as she put her hands to put her lips before yelling swears and curses from Blackpearl. "I don't know what would happen if he woos her or picks her up her feet." He said as Pearl was having a hard keep covering her mouth from yelling blaspheme. "Maybe I should give up." He muttered as Pearl tried to shut up. Blackpearl's anger rose as Pearl moved her hands and exclaimed angrily, "Give her up to that low-life, hypocritical bastard that I want to thrash him with my hammer to the damn ground! You don't giver her up you understand or I'll thrash you and that freaking idiot to the damn ground!" Silence answered as everyone stared at her scared and Elazul was lying on the ground surprised. Pearl blushed really red as she said, "Sorry."

They turned back to their regular conversations as Elazul picked himself. "Listen, young Jumi, if you give up, he will win. If you really love Artemis truly, then you will win. If doesn't matter if he woos her or not. She seriously doesn't like a guy that tries to be picked up by a few words like a doll. You got to stand your ground and fight until you have Artemis by your side instead of Quince's. Understood?" she asked in Blackpearl's voice. He nodded slowly. "Good, then I won't have to hit you for a million times." She said as she smiled.

"So, what have you been doing since you saved the race?" Quince asked like he's hot, not. "I was doing some things." She answered shortly. "Umm, could you tell me some things?" he asked with a grin on his face. "Just some stuff." She replied looking straight at the battle. "You know maybe you should come over to my place and-." He started talking but cut off by the announcer. "The next battle is Elazul and Pearl vs. Teal and Rona!" She got up and ran over to the railing and looked down to see Elazul and Pearl walking up towards Teal, the Teal Jumi, and Rona, the Rose Jumi. "Elazul, Pearl, good luck!" she called them as they looked up and saw her. She waved at them as they waved back.

Elazul and Teal got into place as Pearl and Rona ran off. The force field was set as the two begin battling like crazy. Elazul kept guarding from Teal's axe attacks as Teal swung her axe around in a fury. He was a little hurt as Teal wasn't by her aggressive attacks and his guard. He hasn't touched her yet as everyone cheered in excitement. Artemis watched intensely as she hoped that he wins. He was pushed back by her force attack as he hit the wall. She let out a little cry as he tried to stand up. An idea clicked into her head. "Hey, Lazuli, use the Bird of Prey." She told him as he stood up. He heard her and thought of using it. When Teal came rushing for an attack, he leapt up in the air as she swung her axe to nothing and swung his sword to create multiple blasts. She looked up and let out a little yelp as the blasts hit her and made her lay on the ground.

He landed on the ground and pulled his sword to his side. Everyone cheered for him as Artemis cheered along. Rose raised her hands in defeat knowing she can't defeat him as Pearl and Elazul stood in the middle of the arena. Everyone clapped for their victory as Artemis smiled at that. She watched them walk away until someone came up behind her. "So, Artemis, since that's over, would you till want to take up the offer?" he asked as he opened his arms and almost wrapped his arms around her. She went down underneath and crawled up beside him and said, "Well that was a great battle , I'm going to see Elazul and Pearl, see you later, Florina, Rubens, Diana." She bowed before she ran off as Diana said while smiling, "That girl is always cheering for Elazul." Florina said, "Yes, they are real close." Rubens said, "I bet Elazul is the one making her sparkle like that." They chuckled as Quince listened to their conversation without them knowing he was plotting.

She ran down the stairs, into the main hall, and went inside the locker room. She saw Elazul and Pearl talking amongst themselves. "Elazul, Pearl!" she called over as she ran up to them. "Artemis!" Pearl exclaimed as she ran up and hugged. "Did you see Elazul? He was amazing wasn't he." She said as Artemis nodded happily. "Yep, he was. Hey, Elazul, you were great when you used the Bird of Prey." She said as she walked up to him. He turned to her and said, "I wouldn't able to win if it wasn't your help." She blush a little as she said, "Well, I always help a friend, big or small, right?" He smiled as he said, "right." In the corner, Quince watched as Artemis laughed with Elazul and Pearl before he walked off somewhere else.

After the second ending of the tournament, they walked off into the city laughing and joking around like best friends. "Elazul," Artemis said as he stepped up ahead. He turned to her as she said, ", Pearl and I are going to walk around the city. Want to come?" He shook his head as he said, "No, I'm too tired after that battle I'm going to bed. Make sure you come home after that and don't let Pearl get lost." He stared at her was saying this to Artemis. "Okay, 'Dad'." Artemis said as she ran off with Pearl behind giggling. Elazul stared at them while he turned around and said, "They must have eaten too much sugar."

He walked towards his house till he saw Quince standing beside his door. "What do you want?" he asked angrily. "Is that anyway to say to your friend?" Quince questioned as he flipped his hair. "A friend that tries to touch his guardian's legs?" he retorted back. "Touché." He said before smiling. "Answer my question." He said furiously. "I just here to say you win." Quince said with his arms crossed. "Huh?" Elazul asked confused. "You win. You stole Artemis's heart before I had a chance to take it. You already have her love you, other than me. So, you win." He explained while Elazul examined him closely. "What's the catch?" he questioned. "No catch. See ya." He said as he walked down the road with his cape swishing. He stared at him before going to bed.

Pearl and Artemis ran as they past by Jumi they knew and talked. They ran until they saw Florina leaning against the wall coolly. "Hey, Florina, aren't you supposed to be in the Throne of Clarius?" Artemis asked as they stopped. She stood up and said, "No, I'm just talking a walk, that's all." Pearl looked at her weirdly as she said, "I was leaning with an awesome breeze till Rubens came up and gave me a potion that's supposed to help one's sleep." A big question mark stood above her head. "So, I told him I was sleeping like a dream and he told me to give it to the person who needs the most, you I reckoned." She said as she held a green bottle. "No thanks, I'm sleeping fine." Artemis said as she shook her head. "Not you, what about the lapis knight?" Florina asked. "Well…" she started to say. "Then, it settles, here take it to him." She said as she thrust the bottle in her hands and ran off. Pearl turned to her and asked, "Is it me or has Florina acted weird?" She turned towards her and said, "It's not you. I never seen Florina talk, ran, or act that way before." Artemis said. "I don't know what's going." Pearl said. "We better get to bed." Artemis said as they walked off. In the corner, Florina grinned as she changed to Quince.

Artemis walked Pearl home and went straight towards the Lapis Knight's house to see Elazul sitting on the couch staring into the darkness. "Elazul, what are you doing up?" she asked as she walked over to him. "Huh? Nothing, I can't sleep that's all." He said as he sat there. "Did you take Pearl home?" he asked her while she was in the kitchen. "Yes, the strangest thing happened on our way home." She said as she fixed Peach Puppy juice. "What strange thing?" he asked as he looked at her with wide eyes. "It's Florina; she was out leaning against the wall even though she's was supposed to be in the Throne of Clarius." She said as she drank it. "Maybe Diana gave her some time to get out." He said. "But that's not all. She talked, acted, and ran funny like she's someone else." She said as she sat by him. "Maybe she decided to change herself. You never know when a person changes themselves for a better." He said as he looked up at the ceiling. "Maybe, she gave me this potion she said Rubens gave it her to help her sleep, but gave it to me." She said while holding the green bottle. "That green bottle?" he asked. "Yes, well I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning." She said as she put the bottle on the counter and went to bed. "A bottle that helps one to sleep, huh?" he questioned as he walked over there. "I'll give it a shot. He opened it and took a drink before putting it down and going to put.

Outside, Quince watched Elazul drink the potion through the window before he said, "He's in a big surprise tomorrow." He chuckled as he walked on the road towards his house imagining Elazul's fate.

TBC

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End of chapter two. Thanks for reading. R+R!


	3. Chapter 3

Hello, this is the third chapter. I got many hits, thanks. See ya.

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Meet Blaze the Kid Dragon

(Bejeweled City)

It was morning as the sun rose and shone its lights on the huge jewels on the walls. Artemis was lying on bed having a good dream as she heard a Cockatrice doing its rooster calls. She slowly woke up stretching in her small blue shorts and a white tank top. She turned around to wake up Elazul when her eyes widened in surprise. There lying on the bed right next to her was a little Kid Dragon under the sheets.

She slowly stood up carefully not waking it up as she moved towards the door. It laid there sleeping heavily as she got away from its hearing range. Pearl came walking in saying, "Good morning, Artemis." She quickly covered her mouth and motioned with her hand towards the mysterious sleeping monster. Pearl's eyes widened as she tried to speak, but got cut off by her hand. Pearl slowly put her hand down as she whispered confused, "What is a Kid Dragon doing in your bed?"

Artemis whispered back answering, "I don't know, it was there when I woke up." Pearl looked and saw no Elazul. "Where's Elazul?" she asked softly. Artemis's eyes widened. '_I forgot about him!_' she thought as she almost panicked, but Pearl got there first. "What if that monster ate Elazul!" she whispered scared. A thought hit her while looking at it. "A Kid Dragon can't eat a whole person like Elazul. Besides, it looks harmless." she said while looking at Pearl. "Well, it looks cute and it can't eat a Jumi like a Land Dragon, but still Elazul is not here." Pearl said as she looked everywhere in the house.

"When was the last time you seen him?" she asked Artemis. "Before bed last night, he must take a walk outside since he couldn't sleep." Artemis said as she tried to figure out. "Probably." she said back. The Kid Dragon slowly opened an eye as Pearl and Artemis stood against the wall. It opened another as it stood up and landed on its feet on the floor.

(Elazul's Point of View)

I woke up really tired to see Artemis and Pearl leaning against the wall like I'm a vicious blood-killing monster. I took a step forward; they try to take a step back. '_What the hell is wrong with them?_' I thought while looking at them suspiciously. "Pearl, this dragon can't be bad." Artemis said as she looked at her. '_Dragon, what dragon?_' I thought as I looked around. No dragon. "I know, but who knows what it will do." Pearl said in a frightened voice.

'What the hell are they talking about?' I thought as I tried to figure out what they are talking about. "Besides, I bet it's lost and wants to be with someone." Artemis said as she took a step forward. She looked taller and bigger as she stepped up. '_Did she get a growth spurt while I was asleep?_' I thought as she bended down to my eye level. "You might be right, this one is so adorable." Pearl said as she stepped forward and bended down to look face to face. '_She got a spurt too?_' A thought passed my mind. "Are you going to keep him?" Pearl asked her. "Well, there's room at my Monster Barn, maybe I'll take it in." Artemis said as they both stood up. "Oh, I want to see your pets sometime." Pearl said as she clapped her hand in front of her.

'_Why am I going to the Monster Barn?_' I questioned more in my head. "Come by sometime and I'll introduce you to my pets." Artemis said as Pearl nodded cheerfully. I smiled as they talked more about pets. I walked towards the bathroom. I noticed I walked more slowly and it's harder to walk. '_Why can't I walk normal?_' another question popped. I walked into the bathroom as I passed a full-length mirror that I used for many reasons. '_Hold on_.' I said as I walked back to the mirror and stood in front of it. There in my reflection was a Kid Dragon was blue eyes, green scales, sharp purple claws, small two feet, black scales on my back, and my lapis lazuli core stuck in the middle of my chest.

'_Wait, there's my core. Then…I'M A DRAGON!_' a loud thought screamed in my head and it gave me a headache. I let out a shrill cry as I fainted on the cold white carpet. After sleeping and calming my hurting headache, I woke up to find myself in a barn stall with Artemis and Pearl staring at me. "Poor thing must have been shocked and fainted." Artemis said in a worried voice as she rubbed a cold, wet towel on my head. It felt good to feel that. "Yes, it's good that we can bring it here after the battle tournament's end." Pearl said as she looked it cutely. "I can't believe that Esmeralda and I were in the top 5 winners of the tournament." she said as she rinsed the towel again.

Pearl nodded as she looked at something else. '_Wait, the tournament's over already?_' I thought as Artemis wiped my head again. "Sorry, I got to go, I have to find Elazul." Pearl said as she walked out of the stall with Artemis behind her. "Okay, I'll see you." she called as Pearl left the barn. She turned to me and asked herself, "Well, my new pet, I got to give you a name." She bended towards my eye level and looked straight into my eyes. I blushed and felt hot as my new scales kept it hidden, thank Goddess.

"Hmmm, I know I'll call you Blaze." she said as she rubbed my head softly as I enjoyed it. "Well, Blaze, welcome home. These other pets will your family from now on. This is Sol," she pointed to her faithful companion I see her with all the time which is a Rabite. ", Tikkle," She pointed to a Sahagin rubbing its spear with a towel. ", Coco," she pointed to a yellow Chocobo pecking at its feathers. ", and this is Cepheid." She finally pointed to an old looking Sky Dragon sitting still like a statue.

"There are most friendly and you'll get used to them." she said to me in friendly way. 'She talks to her pets like human beings.' I thought as I heard one of the elven twins call her name. "Coming, Bud. I better get going. See you later, Blaze." she said as she ran outside and closed the door behind her. As soon the door closed, the pets started talking like a class of students except Cepheid, still standing like a statue. "Hi, I'm Sol. You're the new pet master picked, huh? Glad to meet you." he said as he hopped around. There weren't walls to keep us apart and we can see each other real well. "I'm Coco, the good chocobo and the only female one here." Coco said as she strutted around fluttering her feathers.

"I'm Tikkle; I got help from Artemis in the Duma Dessert and finished it. Then, I joined her on the quest to get toughened up a little." he said as he held his trusty spear by his side. "…." Cepheid didn't say anything. "That's Cepheid; he's the oldest one out of the group, he doesn't talk much, but you'll get to know him." Sol said as he hopped around. "Do you know who I am, Sol?" I asked him as the others were talking somewhere else. "You're Blaze, the Kid Dragon?" he said as he looked confused. "Do you remember this?" I asked as I pointed out my core. "Wait, that looks like a Jumi's core. Did you steal it?" He asked crazily. "No, I'm Elazul, the lapis knight that traveled with Artemis with you beside her." I said as he looked funny.

"That can't be true, he's at the Bejeweled City with his partner, Pearl." he said as he shook his head. "I'm him." I said again seriously. "Okay, here's the deal, if you can prove to me, that you're real, then I'll listen." he said as he nodded. "Okay." I said as my core flashed brightly. His eyes widened and exclaimed, "Oh, you're him!" "Told you." I said it to him. "Okay, I'm listening." Sol said as he hopped. "Okay." I said as I started the whole story.

"So, you've been turned into a Kid Dragon after you drink from that potion?" Sol questioned as I nodded. "You want to turn back to normal?" he asked me. I nodded again as he thought for a while. "Well, we can't do anything now till we can find some remedies." he said as he hopped around for a while. "Once master gets us out grazing or going on an adventure, we'll find some things that will lead to the remedy." he said as Coco and Tikkle talked more. I nodded as Cepheid looked around and started to glide across the barn. "What's with him?" I asked curiously. "Cepheid doesn't like to stay in a place where the people bug him a lot so he flies to the attic and stays there till sundown." Sol answered as Coco walked towards them.

"Cepheid hates people getting on his nerves so much he freezes them into snowmen." she said as she strutted around like a chicken. "Hey, cute pets, lunch is here!" Lisa's voice rang out as they ran to their spots as Lisa came walking in with a basket of Cornflower, Apricat, Peach Puppy, Diceberries, Heart Mints, and Spiny Carrots. "Here you go, Sol." Lisa said as she gave him three Spiny Carrots. He nibbled it slowly as Lisa gave Coco Cornflowers and a Diceberry, Tikkle with two Heart Mints and a Peach Puppy; she filled Cepheid's with the Apricats and a Diceberry, and turned to me and gave me the rest of the Cornflowers, Heart Mints, and Peach Puppies. She walked out as everyone was digging in quickly like on a race. I looked at it weirdly as it looked weird enough.

"Come on, Blaze, it won't eat itself up." Tikkle said as he chewed on his Peach Puppy. I bent down and took a bite of the Peach Puppy and slowly chewed it. It wasn't bad and it was so delicious. I ate the rest as Cepheid didn't come back from his corner. After that, everyone took a catnap as I felt sleepy myself. I looked behind and found a bed of hay waiting for me to lay on it. I walked over to it and laid on my back as I listened to their snores and started to saw logs.

I got nudged hard as I looked up to see the elven brother staring at me in the eyes. "Blaze, you want to graze outside?" he asked as I found Sol and Coco gone. I nodded as Tikkle waved goodbye while still sleeping. I walked behind him slowly as I saw Cepheid asleep on the floorboard of the attic. I entered the bright world as Bud closed the door and walked away leaving me with Sol and Coco. "Oh, finally, I can rest with the sun on my feathers." she said as she walked around the grassy knoll. Sol hopped over to me as he said, "This is our chance to act. You want to?" "Let's go." I said as he led the way with me behind. He hopped around the house as we past mailbox.

As we made past it, Sol stopped and bumped into him. I looked up and saw Quince standing there with a bouquet of purple lilies. I was about to stomp on his fat face when Sol grabbed me by his teeth and pulled me back. "If master saw you, she'll never let you out grazing again." he warned me as Quince walked up to the door. We peeked over the corner and saw him ringing her doorbell. She opened the door surprised to find Quince holding a bouquet of lilies. "Quince, hello." she said as he smiled. "Lovely flowers for a lovely girl." he said as he gave them to her. "Thanks." she said as she took them. "May I come in?" he asked. "Oh, sure." she said as she let him inside.

"Dammit! I need to see what's happening inside." I exclaimed as I tried to reach for the window, but can't because of height. "So, how are you doing since I last saw you?" he asked as he sat down. She sat down and put the lilies on the table. "It's only been yesterday." she said as she felt uneasy. Through the window, a tiny green scaly head appeared as it tried to regain balance. I stood on Sol as he rocked back and forth almost making me collapse. "Hold still." I ordered him. "You're too heavy, I'm about to drop." he said as he tried his best.

"I can't hear them." I said as I saw them talking. "The window is closed." Sol told me. "What are you doing?" Coco's voice came out of nowhere. We both stood still like rocks as we turned to see a curious Coco looking at us weirdly. "Um…um..well." Sol stuttered as I tried to think of some excuse. "You're spying on the master, right? I want to see too." she said as she jumped on a big rock and stood beside me watching the same scene. "Ahh, look how he's sweet talking her." she said as she watched it like a soap opera. I looked at her weird as I asked, "How?" "I can read lips, silly." she answered as she turned back to the scene. "Really? What are they saying?" I asked turning back to it. "He says, 'Your eyes are like stars from the glorious galaxy. Your hair is like a golden woven thread. I want to take you to Lumina to see the full moon set upon the black sky.' This guy is just like that horse-man." she said as she watched carefully. She was talking about Gilbert.

"Blaze, I'm about to break!" Sol cried painfully as I looked down to see him sweating. "Just a little more, Sol." I told him. "Ohhhhh, what did he just do!" Coco cried as I quickly looked inside. "What happened?" I asked nervously. "He gave her a bracelet saying he wants her to keep that to remember him by. He's getting to the first base quickly, he needs to slow down." she said as she watched Artemis look at it and Quince smiling at her. I quickly got hurt emotionally as I heard about that. "You go girl!" Coco cheered on. "What is it?" I asked again. "She says that they are just friends and nothing else and he's moving too fast. She gave him the bracelet and shoved him out the door." Coco said as they watched him leave. "Alright!" they cheered as Sol cheered along.

"She wouldn't keep her shields up for long." They heard Quince's voice nearby. "Huh?" they questioned as they peeked around the corner to see Quince smiling evilly. "Once she heard Elazul is gone, she'll break down and run to me. To me, not him." he smiled as he walked down the path laughing a little insane. "That dude is evil." Coco said as she watched him leave. "I'm going to peck his eyes out if he comes back here again." she said as she laughed at that image. "Lisa, Bud, I'm going to check the pets." Artemis's voice said nearby. They started to freak out. "Let's move quickly." Sol said as we ran behind him to the hill. We ran till we saw it as Coco flew down there and Sol and I ran onto there. Artemis came walking up to us and smiled. "Alright, time for supper." she said as she fed up different varieties of fruit again.

At that night, everyone is asleep except for Sol and me. We're talking of what to do as I thought about that event. "Quince is surely the one who gave the potion to you and made you what you are." Sol said as I kept thinking. "We need to go by the Bejeweled City and raid his place for anything worth helpful. But, the master goes there and lets us sometimes go there with her." he said as I said, "We'll just need an excuse for her to go there with us by her side." He smiled as he said, "Great idea." "We'll need to think of this tomorrow. Good Night." Sol said as he rested against the hay and slept. "Good night." I said as I lay on the hay and slept peacefully waiting for the plans to start.

TBC

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That's the third chapter. What do you think? Thanks for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello, thanks for reading my story. Here's the fourth chapter. Bye!  
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Finding the Cure

(Home, Artemis' Point of View)

It was another morning here as I read some tomes in my peaceful study. I read some legends or some stories on creatures other than the lilipeas or the fairies. I looked outside from the window to see Coco, Sol, and the new pet, Blaze grazing the hill. I smiled as I watched Blaze talking to Sol, who was hopping around cutely. I turned back to the tomes and started to read again, until Bud came in holding a letter up to me.

"Master, a letter came for you." Bud said as he looked curiously at my letter. "I bet it's from your lovebird." he said making mushy kissing faces at the idea. I blushed red as I snatched the letter from his hand as he ran out trying to escape. I held it in one hand as I tore the top to open it. I flipped it open to find Florina's handwriting.

'_Artemis,_

_This is Florina. I'm writing this to you because Pearl and I need your help. Elazul has disappeared, vanished. We haven't seen him for the past 5 days. Pearl's been searching for him with Esmeralda everywhere from Bejeweled City to the Underworld and found nothing. She has been crying ever since and stopped when she transforms to Blackpearl on Jinn Day. But Blackpearl said she feels and hears Pearl crying in her core. Please help us search for him since you and he were very close friends. Meet us at Bejeweled City in the Throne of the Clarius to talk._

_Sincerely, _

_Florina, Clarius of the Jumi'_

My eyes widened at the news. '_Elazul hasn't come back yet._'****I thought as I looked over the letter again. I closed my tomes and put them away as I walked outside from the study. I looked to see the Sproutling sleeping on the sidewalk peacefully as I looked out to the sky. '_I got to find Elazul, but how? Pearl and Esmeralda searched for him everywhere and no trace. I better bring a pet along to help us out._" I thought as I stared at the drifting care-free clouds in the endless blue sky.

I walked around the house towards the Monster Barn as the pets still grazing on the hill. I walked onto the hill as they stopped and stared at me. I walked over to Blaze and petted him gently. He purred as he enjoyed. Since when did dragons purr like a housecat? I bended to face him eye to eye with the small dragon. "Blaze, do you want to come?" I asked nicely. He nodded excitedly as I let out a playful laugh.

He stopped as he looked sadly at Sol, who was also sad. My face stopped smiling as I looked at the two. "You want Sol to come?" I asked Blaze. It nodded with a hopeful face. I stood up and said, "Let's go, Blaze and Sol." I turned around and started walking up the hill. As I walked up the steps, I could see at the corner of my eye Coco waving her yellowed-feathered wing at them as she squawked gently. I must be having hallucinating from the Honey Onion juice.

We walked out of Home and into the Bejeweled City that was almost like near us. I came across the entrance as I saw Esmeralda talking to Luna. She turned her head as her face let out a small smile. "Artemis!" she exclaimed as she ran over to me as Luna walked over to Teal. "It's good to see you again. Come, Lady Diana, Florina, and Blackpearl are waiting for you." Esmeralda said as she turned around. "It's Jinn day, already?" I asked confused. "Oh, no, Pearl changed into Blackpearl because she was so exhausted, poor thing. It's Aura Day, now." Esmeralda said as she turned around again.

I glanced at Blaze and saw his face loosen with a small sad expression on his face. I turned to her and asked, "Can my pets stay here and walk around for a while?" "Oh, yes, everyone will love to see your cute, adorable pets, Artemis." Esmeralda exclaimed with a beam. "Okay," I said as I turned around and bended to their level, ", you two, don't get in any trouble okay?" They both nodded responsibly. "Good." I said as I smiled at them, stood, and faced her again.

"Come, come, they're all waiting for you." she said as we ran up towards the Throne of the Clarius. She stopped outside the giant doors as she stepped beside them. "The Lady Diana is inside." she said formally like a servant. She smiled at her antic as I smiled back. I pushed open the doors as we stepped inside.

Inside, Diana and Blackpearl were in front of Florina, who was sitting on her throne. "Ah, hello Artemis, you've come." Blackpearl said as they faced towards me. "Hello, Blackpearl, Diana, Florina." "Hello." Diana and Florina said while nodded. I walked up to them and it started as a 15 minute meeting.

"So, you're going to look for him in various places?" Esmeralda asked as they were in front of Saphoe's third floor gate. "Uh-huh, I have to look in the White Forest, Norn Peaks, and etc." I replied as we looked out to the sky. "Do you have a big relationship with Elazul, Artemis?" Esmeralda asked curiously with a smirk on her face. I blush a little as I quickly answered, "No, we're just friends." "Oh, okay." she said back as she watched her sisters flirt with a blue Rubens.

"Ah, Artemis, I didn't know you we're here to see me." Quince's voice said as he walked up to them with a big smile on his face. "She didn't come to see YOU, Quince; she came to see Lady Diana." Esmeralda pointed it out to him. "Really, is something wrong?" he asked eagerly to know. "Just some important matters." I replied short. "Why are you here, Quince, you're supposed to live on the 1st floor since you're a clod?" Esmeralda asked. "I'm here to do some extermination." he said as he looked the other way smiling.

"What extermination?" she asked again. "Monster extermination." he answered quickly. "Monsters, you say?" I questioned confused. "Monsters, what monsters, the only monsters here are Artemis-." she stopped as we both looked at him suspiciously. "Alright, Quince, what did do to these 'monsters' you talk about?" she questioned him. "See for yourself." he said as he threw Sol and Blaze on the floor roughly.

I gasped a little as Esmeralda yelped at the sight. They were beaten badly like they were wiped with cat's tails 5 times. Sol was covered in bruises and Blaze, who seems to have the most abuse, got bruises and a faint trail of blood on his forehead. I bended down to pick them up as Esmeralda shouted angrily, "What did you do to them?"

"I did what I always do to ravaging monsters loose in this city." he replied as he turned around. "These aren't 'monsters', they are pets and Artemis's pets." she told him. "If these are pets, then how come they were in my room destroying like there's no tomorrow?" he asked as he turned around.

"How would you know? Maybe, they got lost since it's their first time here." Esmeralda replied back. They continued arguing as I held them in my arms and walked away to the Diamond Gemstone room. I cleaned most of their wounds and bandaged them as I wiped the blood trail from Blaze's forehead. Sol was fast asleep as Blaze twitched a little after I put some homemade ointment on him.

After that, Blaze fell asleep as I sat on the perch near the Diamond as I watched the room glowed white and heard the waterfall behind me. Esmeralda came in sooner with an upset face. "That jerk is so going to be in trouble someday." she said as she jumped next to me. "Why do you hate Quince?" I asked curious. "Because a week ago at Florina's party, I and Pearl were talking about our knights when Quince came up and started to 'flirt' with us. While he was sweet talking to us, his grubby hand started to feel around our thighs! We jumped from this as Elazul and Sapphoe bashed his head with the butt of their swords." she explained angrily.

She jumped off as she asked, "It's getting late. Do you want to stay here for the night?" "No, thanks, I don't to be a burden and in the range of Quince's wandering eye." I answered while we laughed a little. "Can't blame you." she said as she walked away to her room. I went from Bejeweled City to my home as it was nighttime there. I put Sol and Blaze in the Monster Barn and went inside the house. I saw Bud and Lisa sleeping on the floor probably waiting for me. I picked them up and put them in their beds which was in the attic and went to tell Little Cactus a story before bed.

Elazul's or Blaze's POV

Artemis put us in the Monster Barn as Sol quickly slept since he awfully tired. I stood up as I saw Coco and Tikkle sleeping in their stalls and Cepheid not sleeping in his stall. I walked out of the barn and out in the field walking back to Artemis. The trip was very long since Kid Dragons walk really slow. 'I'm going to kill Quince!' I yelled in my mind. I made it towards the door and gently opened it a little to see no one there. I went inside and silently closed the door. I walked towards the stairs knowing she would be in bed now.

I walked up the stairs and found her lying on her bed as the Little Cactus walked and wrote in his leaf diary. 'Wait, that cactus can walk!?' my thought exclaimed in my head. I walked up as it settled in his small pot and looked at what he wrote. _'My master went to the City of Jewels with her rabite, Sol, and her new pet, the kid dragon, Blaze. She said that a letter was sent to her telling her about her friend, Elazul, disappearance. When she got there, she was discussing it when another Jumi, Quince, hurt her pets! That meanie! She's really sad about her friend because he was her first friend before she met anyone else.'_

His eyes read the last part as he looked at her lying still. He walked over and stood in front of her. 'Artemis, I'm sorry I'm hurting you. Well, this is the first time apologizing I have a lot to feel sorry for.' he thought as he tried to tell her. She moved a little as she whispered something. 'What.' he thought as he leaned in closer. "Elazul, please come back." she whispered as my eyes widened in surprise. 'She's thinking about me.' I thought as a million thoughts ran through my head. She reached out and touched my head with her hand. Her eyes were still closed as she smiled rubbing my head gently.

I smiled as she scratched my head a little. She pulled her arm away as I tried to reach it. I watched her lie against her big, soft pillow as I remember how I wanted to be with her always, by her side. Without another thought, I jumped on her bed and went over to her and lay beside her. I closed my eyes as I felt Artemis relaxed beside me. Outside of her window, Coco was looking through the window as she flapped her wings to keep afloat. "That Elazul is so cute together with Artemis." she said to herself as she smiled. "Coco, I didn't know you could fly!" Tikkle called to her as he was on the hill near the barn. "Fly?!" she exclaimed in fear as she dropped like an anchor. I heard a big thump outside and I knew it was Coco spying. Chocobos are good for spying, but not well at flying.

TBC

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That was it! Thanks for reading. Review if it sucks or not.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello, everyone! Sorry for the long delay, but now is the new chapter of the story. Enjoy.

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The Search for Elazul

(Home)

In the morning, Artemis was lying dangled on her quilted bed with Blaze besides her resting peacefully. The sun fully rose above the horizon shining its light upon the tree house. Blaze slowly woke up yawning softly before he saw that he was right beside Artemis. His eyes widened realizing as she tossed in her sleep. 'Oh no, I got to go before she wakes up! If she sees me, who knows what will happen!' he exclaimed in his mind carefully jumped off and tried to run. "Blaze! Over here!" Sol called out. Blaze turned to see Sol sitting on the windowsill outside. He walked over and asked him, "Sol? What are you doing here? How did you get up here?" "I'm here to help get you out. Besides, Cepheid flew me up here and I owe him. So, anyhow let's get out of here." He said rushing. Blaze jumped through the open window as they both fell to the ground and landed softly. "Let's get to the Monster Barn before Lisa and Bud arrive." Sol said making them start running towards the barn.

They entered the barn to see Tikkle and Coco playing around and closed the doors behind them. "So, how did it go?" Coco asked curiously. "Good. I know you were spying on us last night, Coco." He replied making Coco blush and Tikkle laugh. They stopped talking to hear footsteps coming. "It must be the kids, let's get to our stalls." Tikkle said running towards his stall while everyone else ran. The doors opened to reveal Bud opening the door and Lisa holding a basket of fruits. "Breakfast time!" Lisa joyfully shouted running around putting fruits in their feedboxes.

They started to eat after they left while Sol put a few Cornflowers in Cepheid's trough. After they ate, they started to move around and talk among each other while Cepheid flew somewhere else again. "So, what are we going to do now?" he asked Sol. "If Quince didn't have the antidote in his room, we might make the antidote ourselves." Sol replied thinking clearly. "How are we supposed to make the antidote if we don't know it?" he asked him confused. "Our master has tomes in her library that's filled of information. Maybe there's one on how to make an antidote for you to transform back." He explained hopping around like he's pacing.

"Great, let's go." He said ready to search for the book. He stopped when he saw Sol not moving an inch. "We could, but we can't. Frankly, master has always been in the library reading on the history of Mana. If we go in there when she's not there, we might get caught if she comes back. We need someone fast enough to get in and get out with the book instead of us." "Oh! That I can help with!" Coco exclaimed rushing towards us in top speed. "Oh, Coco! Great, can you go into the library and find us a book of antidotes?" Sol asked her gently. "Sure! I'm going now!" she exclaimed excitedly running past them and exiting the Monster Barn. We sweatdropped as Tikkle came up to us and we started to talk.

Coco was running away from the hill and onto the road running around the treehouse. "Now, where's that window that leads to the library?" she asked herself aloud. She looked up to see a rock sitting below the window. She jumped onto the rock and looking inside seeing the library. "There it is!" she exclaimed before she opened the window with her wing and jumped inside. She walked around the library searching for the book using a ladder to search high and low. "Book of Monsters….Book of Artifacts…Book of Fruits…" she said throwing each book away. "Aha! Book of Antidotes! Perfect! Now to clean up evidence!" she exclaimed to herself shelving every book that she threw away. She took the book under her wing and started to walk towards the open window calmly.

"Master! Mail's here!" Bud called out getting closer to the library. "Oh no!" she said worried before she hid behind the side of the desk. The door opened to reveal Bud holding a letter looking around confused. "Where did she go? She might be upstairs still asleep. She took Elazul's disappearance pretty hard. I'll leave it here for and tell Lisa to wake her up." He said before leaving the letter on the desk and ran out slamming the door shut. Coco curiously jumped onto the desk, took the letter out of the envelope, and opened it. She scanned the letter quickly and said, "I better take this and show it to Blaze and Sol." She took the letter with her beak and jumped out of the window. She closed it with her wing and ran back to the Monster Barn.

Sol and Blaze were still talking to Tikkle until they stopped to see Coco running in with a letter in her beak and the book under her wing. She pulled the letter out of her beak and exclaimed filled with success, "I got the book! I got the book!" Sol jumped over to where she is and said, "Great! What's that letter you have, Coco?" "Oh, this is the letter Bud laid out on the desk and it's pretty important concerning you, Blaze." She said as she handed the book and the letter to Blaze. He took the letter and started to read aloud so everyone could here,

'Dear Artemis,

Meet me in Lumina City

Quince.'

"Quince?" Sol said disbelieved. "I wonder what he wants with her now." Coco wondered aloud. "We'll think about it later when we have some clues, but for now, let's get started on this antidote." Blaze said seriously opening the tome with his hand. They all gathered around him searching page after page for the antidote. "Ah! Here it is! The Antidote for Changing Potion!" Sol exclaimed pointing the page tile with his ear. "In order to reverse the effects of the changing potion, you must find the ingredients that link to the type of monster you've become." Tikkle read the sentence aloud.

They all looked at him and Sol said, "Well, I think we need to plan the ingredients out that links with a Kid Dragon." Tikkle ran inside his stall and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. "Here! Right it down." He said laying it out on the open book. "I can't write! I don't have hands." Sol pointed out. "Me neither. Either you or Blaze." Coco said pointing at each of them with a tip of her feathers. "Okay, I'll do it." Tikkle said picking up the pen while juggling his spear with the other hand. "Okay, we'll need Dragon's breath." Sol started it out. "Don't forget Dragon Steak!" Coco reminded them. "How about Lizard Scales?" Blaze asked confused. "Yeah, put that down." Coco said to Tikkle. "We need some Undine and Jinn coins, but only master has them." Sol said pointedly. "We should get Sharp Claws and Little Eyes for the antidote." Tikkle said writing it down. "What else do we need?" Coco wondered. "We need some bones." Sol answered. "Let's put down Ivory." Blaze said. "Good idea." Tikkle said.

"Okay! Here's the list!" Tikkle said passing it to Blaze. "Thanks." He said to him as he looked at the list. They heard footsteps coming to the barn. "Back to the stalls, quick!" Sol exclaimed hopping back to his stall. Everyone else got to their stalls as the door opened to reveal an awaken Artemis. "Hi, everyone!" she greeted jolly. They nodded back as their response. "Who wants to come with me to White Forest?" she asked her pets. Blaze stepped out of his stall while Sol hopped out of his and Coco flapped out of hers. "Okay, are you three ready?" she asked them. They nodded excitedly as she ran out of the barn with them following her.

(White Forest)

She entered in the forest with her three pets trailing behind her. She turned to them and asked worriedly, "Are you okay?" They nodded and she turned around. "Artemis!" she heard someone call out. Sierra jumped out of the trees and landed in front of her, a few meters away. "Sierra! It's good to see you!" Artemis exclaimed happily to see her friend again. "Good to see you too. Vadise told me that you came. Why are you here? Is something wrong?" she asked concerned. "Well, I'm here to find my friend who disappeared and I was hoping I could find him here." She replied before telling what Elazul is like.

In the background, Blaze, Sol, and Coco were watching the scene as they talked to each other. "Okay, here's the plan. We'll take list in three ways and search throughout the forest for the ingredients." Sol explained his plan to them. "Right! I'll take this list." Coco called out taking a list from Sol. "I'll take this one!" Blaze called out snatching another list from Sol. "Okay, we got our lists. Now to try getting master to let us roam around for a while." He said turning towards his master and the dog dragoon of Vadise.

"Have you seen him around here?" she asked hopefully. "No, I haven't. Sorry. If you want to find him, we should go speak to Vadise. She'll hopefully find him for us." Sierra suggested nicely. "Okay! Let's go see her!" Artemis exclaimed with a little hope. She felt a little tug on her boots and looked down to see Blaze tugging her bootlaces looking innocently. She smiled before she looked up to Sierra and asked, "Is it okay if I let my pets roam around for a while?" "Sure, but they better watch out for other monsters. Recently, the monsters around here have gotten pretty strong." She warned cautiously. "Okay," she turned to her pets, "Be careful." She ran off following Sierra while they were left behind.

"Okay, this is our chance! Let's go!" Sol said before hopping to the left side. "See you later!" Coco exclaimed excitedly dashing towards the right. Blaze waved before running straight towards the center. Blaze started to search for the ingredients by looking into bushes and fighting monsters. Frankly, he got the Little Eyes and some Lizard Scales. He kept going on through a road until he saw Sol jumped out of the bushes. "Sol!" he called out rushing towards his rabite friend. "Blaze!" Sol exclaimed seeing the Kid Dragon friend. "Good news, I got some Dragon's breath from a Land Dragon and some Dragon Steaks from a nearby tree." He told him. "Good, let's go see where Coco is!" They rushed off finding the canary yellow chocobo in the midst of the forest.

"I see, thank you, Vadise." Artemis thanked her and bowed gracefully. Sierra and Artemis left Vadise and walked towards the intersection. "If he isn't here, then where could he be?" she wondered to herself sad. "Don't worry, Artemis. If I heard you right, Elazul is a type of guy that can hold out on his own and doesn't let anyone overpower him so he's fine." She comforted the sprite. "Thanks, Sierra." She said feeling cheered up. They heard some yells and shouts and turned their heads to see Blaze and Sol dashing across the field in front of them leaving them in their path of dust. They looked surprised looking after them until Sierra asked, "What's with them?"

Coco walked out of the Lilipea Village holding Sharp Claws and some Ivory in her wings waving back at the Lilipeas. "All right, now to find Sol and Blaze." She said to herself joyfully. She heard a stampede and turned to see dust moving towards her. She watched with curiosity and confusion until it stopped in front of her and dispersed to show Sol and Blaze lying on the ground tired. "Hello, guys, I've found some Ivory and Sharp Claws! I've found the ingredients for my list already!" she cheered happily. She sweatdropped when she saw Sol and Blaze fast asleep. She let out a huge sigh before she lifted Blaze and Sol onto her back. "Whoever said Chocobos are weak, then they're wrong." She said before dashing off in high speed towards the entrance of White Forest.

Artemis was waiting for her pets with Sierra until she saw her chocobo, Coco, carried Blaze and Sol on their backs. Sierra went to them and said, "These two are really exhausted. Maybe, you should go to Lumina and stay in a hotel for a while. Besides I've heard that some people talk about the guy you're searching for. Why don't you start there? See you around." She said waving goodbye before jumping into the trees. "Bye, Sierra!" she waved goodbye to her dragoon friend. She turned to Coco and said, "Well, let's go to Lumina, Coco." She started to walk as Coco whistled gently along the way like a mockingbird.

(Lumina)

When she went into Lumina, she started to walk towards Mischievous Spirit bar with Coco whistling behind her. She saw Diddle and Capiella having a fun time performing for the Dudbears and smiled at that. She walked towards the counter and sat on a barstool exhausted. The bartender gave her a glass of Heart Mint tea before he started to rub the glasses spot-clean. She drank the whole glass in small sips as Coco watched her curiously. Blaze and Sol started to wake up before they realized they were on Coco's back. They jumped off and started to talk amongst themselves secretly. "Artemis, I knew you showed up." A male voice said. They turned to see Quince walking towards them with his cape swishing behind him.

The pets started to freak when they grasped that they had forgotten about Quince. "Quince! What are you doing here?" Artemis asked confused and surprised. "I came here for you. I asked you in my letter to come here to Lumina." He answered standing before her. "What letter?" she asked deeply confused. Coco started to sweat faster from nervousness and Blaze and Sol tried to stay calm. "The letter I sent to you this morning at your house." He replied getting frustrated. "Sorry, I didn't get a letter this morning. It must have gotten lost." She said sipping on her tea. "Let's forget about that now. Why don't we go have a walk in Morning Moon Alley?" he asked forcing his charm out. "Sure, I think I would." She said before standing up from her seat.

"Oh my Goddess! What are we going to do?!" Coco freaked out screeching her head off. "Coco, calm down, we'll just walk along with them and make sure he doesn't get any closer to her what so ever!" Blaze said having a worried tone in his voice. "He's right. If Quince started to do anything lecherous, then we'll teach him a lesson." Sol agreed nodding along. "Okay, that's sounds good." She said feeling a little bit calmed. They turned to see Quince and Artemis walking down towards Morning Moon Alley. "Come on, we're way behind!" Sol said hopping towards them with the other pets behind him.

Along the way, Quince kept talking about some boring stuff while Artemis was bored enough to fall asleep and her pets kept close by her at all times. He kept talking about himself for an hour and tried to keep touching Artemis when she wasn't looking, but got bit hard by an overprotective Blaze. They reached Monique's lamp shop, Limelight, and entered in and saw Monique working on her white-feathered lamp. "Hi, Monique!" she greeted her excitedly. "Hello, Artemis." She greeted back nicely with a smile. Artemis walked over to the counter while Quince looked around. "What brings you to Lumina this late?" she asked concerned. "Well, I was looking for my friend that disappeared lately." She told her all about Elazul while her pets looked at the lamps.

"Have you've seen around?" she asked. "No, I haven't. I'm sorry." She replied sadly. "Don't worry about it." She responded back with a smile and a wave. "Oh, do you have a bathroom?" she asked smiling. "Yes, over there." She said pointing down the hallway. "Thanks, Monique." She said before running towards the bathroom. As soon as she closed the bathroom door, Quince eyed her pets standing close to the door while Monique was finishing decorating her lamp. 'Those pets of hers kept me from getting close to her during all this time. I'll make sure that they won't interrupt anymore.' He thought angrily in his mind while staring bitterly at the pets.

Blaze glared at Quince with full hatred while Sol and Coco looked around curiously. Artemis came out of the bathroom freshened up and stopped to see her pets standing guard at the door. She felt extremely tired while she let out a big long yawn. "I'm so tired. Why don't we go home now?" she asked her pets. They nodded before she started to head towards the door with her pets behind. "Artemis! Where are you going?" Quince asked surprised to see her leave. "Sorry, Quince, I'm so tired from the search today and my pets are tired too. We're going home now. Bye, Monique!" she said waving back before exiting the lamp store. After she left the store, Quince got incredibly angry and stomped out of the store leaving a confused Monique behind. "What was his problem?" she wondered to herself aloud.

(Home)

They all arrived at Home where it was night and the moon shone above the stars. Artemis went inside to see Lisa and Bud sleeping on the couch with their broom and pan lying beside them. She got them into bed and escorted her pets to the corral before she went back inside to hit the sack. When the pets got into the corral, they got into a circle and started to discuss. "Okay, we got all of the ingredients and the coins I gotten from master, now we need to mix them together." Sol said lying his stuff down in front of him. Coco gasped loudly, "We forgot about a cauldron! What are we supposed to mix the ingredients together in?" "With this!" Tikkle said somewhere else. They turned to see Tikkle standing beside a large metal pot standing tall about his size. They ran towards it and stared at it amazed. "Wow! Where did you get this pot, Tikkle?" Blaze asked stunned. "It was hidden in the back of the barn this whole time. I found it after you guys left." He explained leaning against the pot coolly.

"Okay, everyone, let's get working on the antidote!" Sol cheered while everyone else cheered along. They threw the ingredients into the pot, mixing it with the coins, and stirred it gently making it turned from brown to bright orange. The three pets watched Tikkle stir the pot with his spear. "I can't believe I have to stir this with my spear!" Tikkle murmured while stirring. "Is it done, Tikkle?" Sol asked from below. "Yeah, it's done!" he called back. "Alright, we'll just pour the potion into a bucket." Sol said while Coco ran to get a metal bucket from her stall. They poured the antidote into the bucket and sat it in front of Blaze. "Okay, Blaze, drink a little of this antidote. Who knows you might get back to normal and beat the living stuff out of Quince." Tikkle said watching Blaze with the rest.

Blaze nodded to him and started to drink the antidote out of the bucket. He stopped and stood back up and waited for any changes. …. None came. "What happened?" Blaze asked angry at the failure. They looked confused and wondered to themselves while Sol said, "How can this be? This antidote was supposed to return you back to normal!?" Tikkle got out the book and looked at it thoroughly. "Well I'll be! It seems this antidote book is over 1000 years old!" Tikkle exclaimed surprised. "What? A 1000 years old?" Coco questioned stunned. "So, this potion can't change me back to normal?" Blaze asked with lost hope. "Sorry, Blaze." Tikkle apologized sadly. "Come on now! Cheer up! It's not like it's the end of the world! We'll just have to find another way to change Blaze back to his human form!" Coco exclaimed trying to cheer everyone up.

"Right, tomorrow, we'll find another way." Sol said nodding along wit Coco. Blaze and Tikkle went back into their stalls as Coco and Sol walked back talking along the way. Blaze walked up to his stall and lay down on the comfy hay and closed his eyes and slept into a dreamless sleep. Up in the rafters, a serious-looking Cepheid lurked in the shadows staring upon the sleeping Kid Dragon.

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That's it. What did you think? The next chapter is coming up.


	6. Chapter 6

Hi, everyone! Thanks for reading and reviewing my story. I hope you'll enjoy this new chapter. See ya

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Helping Out Others 

(Home)

Early in the morning, Artemis and Lisa were helping harvest the produce from Trent's branches while Bud was feeding the pets down in the Monster Barn. They picked Cheery Bombs, Apricats, Peach Puppies, Heart Mints, and Bumpkins. Artemis grabbed the last Heart Mint and said, "That's the last of them." Lisa nodded as they put all of the harvested fruits in the big basket and put it in the storage box.

They walked back to the house and saw Escad waiting outside standing near the stoop. "Escad!" she exclaimed happily running towards him with Lisa behind. "Artemis, nice to see you again." He greeted back coolly. "How are you? How's Daena? Something wrong?" she asked. "I'm fine, she's fine, and we want you to come help in Gato." He answered back. "Why?" she asked confused. "There's a problem going on in Gato about a monster that keeps attacking the nuns everyday. It even tried to attack me, but it fled when I attacked back." He explained putting his hand on his sword.

"Alright, I'll help you out. Lisa, you and Bud keep watching the house until I'm back okay?" she said to Lisa. "Yep, I'll hold the fort for you." Lisa said cheerfully. She turned back to Escad and said, "I'll go find Bud, wait for me?" He nodded while Lisa ran in and watched Artemis ran around the corner. She ran towards the Monster Corral to see Bud playing with Coco and Tikkle. "Bud!" she called out while running. "Yes, Master?" he called out stopped playing. "I want you to watch the house with Lisa while I'm gone." She told him while petting Coco's head. "Gone? Where are you going?" he asked confused. "I'm going to Gato Grottoes to help Escad with a problem there." She started to explain to him.

Coco turned towards Tikkle and said, "Did you hear that? Master is going away again!" "Yeah, should we tell them?" he asked her confused. "Sure, it's better late than never." She said before she ran off going to graze again. Tikkle ran back inside to see all of the other pets sleeping except for Cepheid; he was up in the rafters again.

_(Dream World)_

"_Artemis?" Quince asked in a low voice. "Yes, Quince?" she asked sweetly. "There's something I need to tell you." He started to say. "What is it?" she asked. "Well, it's just that I love you truly." He said romantically. "Really! I love you too!" she exclaimed happily. "Really?!" he questioned surprised. "Yes!" she exclaimed giggling. "I'm happy to hear that!" he exclaimed laughing along. They stopped laughing and closed the space between them with a hug and soon they wrapped their arms around each other and hugged tightly._

"_No! Artemis! He'll break your heart! Don't go with that lecherous low-life scum! I'm the one who loves you!" Elazul in his human form ran towards them shouting. As he moved closer and closer, they moved further away from them. With each step, his heart breaks a little as he continued to see them kiss. They stopped as he got closer until he was suddenly transformed into a Kid Dragon again. He looked up to see Quince smirking at him laughing while Artemis giggled at the Kid Dragon. "Do you think that you'll beat me in my own game, Elazul or should I say, Blaze?" he laughed evilly while Blaze was crumbling down inside seeing Artemis laugh at him._

_They disappeared in front of his eyes until he heard some bells ringing somewhere. He turned around to see Quince dressed in a white tuxedo and Artemis dressed in a long, beautiful white bridal gown with every Jumi, Creature, and Human there witnessing the ceremony. "You can't be serious!" he yelled angrily. He ran up the red carpet and towards the couple while everyone else didn't see the little Kid Dragon pass them. He watched and heard Rev. Nouvelle gave the precession. "Do you take this man as your lawfully wedded wife?" he asked Quince. "I do." He said rushing. "Do you take this man as your lawfully wedded husband?" he asked Artemis. "I do." She said gently. "I pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride." He announced. He flipped her veil over her head and kissed passionately in front of the cheering and hooting crowd. Blaze stopped as he watched them kissed again with everyone cheering for them. His eyes tear up sadly while he bent his head down lowly and screamed out sadly, "Artemis!!!!" _

_He heard the cheering stopped suddenly and looked up to see no one there. "Where did they go?!" he yelled. This time he heard cooing from the other end. He turned around and ran towards the cooing until he stopped abruptly to see a pregnant Artemis cradling a white haired child with gold highlights about 4 months old. "Artemis! Where are you?" Quince called out from the shadows. "Over here, Quince!" she said rocking her child gently. Quince came out while Elazul gasped in horror. He was holding a child on his shoulder that had short golden blonde hair with deep blue eyes. The child also had an old looking Kid Dragon in his arms that struggled to be free. "How's your day, honey?" she asked him. "Great, Apollo and I fought with a bunch of monsters. He learned to fight with a sword." He told her. "Blaze and I had a great time!" Apollo exclaimed clutching the Kid Dragon tightly. It turned blue in the face trying to breathe._

'_That's me?!' Blaze thought in his head stunned. Artemis let out a sad sigh as Quince asked, "What's the matter?" "I miss Elazul so much. Even when he disappeared 7 years ago, I still miss him." She muttered sadly. "I'm here! Right here!" Blaze shouted at the top of his lungs wanting her to hear him. The other Blaze tried to call out, but can't make a sound from the child's tight hug. "Don't worry. I'm sure he's in a better place now." He said as he hugged her and grinned evilly and snickered. "You monster!" Blaze yelled angrily at him. He felt his head fill up with heat until he opened his mouth and flames spewed from it. "I can blow flames?" he questioned amazed. Quince stood back and kissed her again while Apollo held Blaze and the infant sat watching his parents curiously. "Damn you, Quince." He whispered madly lowering his head down to face the ground. He whipped his head up and yelled loudly, "DAMN YOU!!!" _

"Blaze, wake up!!!" Tikkle's voice yelled worriedly. He felt painful slaps and woke up from his awful nightmare to see a worried Tikkle and Sol standing in front of him. He also saw Cepheid peering down from the rafters irritated. "What's wrong? Are you okay? You kept yelling and screaming in your sleep when I came in." Tikkle asked concerned. "I was? Phew, it was a bad dream." He muttered under his breath relieved. "Anyway, Master is going to Gato Grottoes with Escad." Tikkle told Blaze. "Escad? He's here?" he questioned not believing it. "Yeah, this might be a chance to see if there is any cure there while you're up there." Sol explained to him. "Okay, I'll go with her up to Gato." He told the others nodding.

He walked outside and closed the door behind to see Artemis and Bud were gone. "Where did they go?" he wondered looking around. Cepheid flew out of the window above the door of the Monster Barn and floated towards the ground in front of Blaze. "Cepheid?" he questioned disbelieved. "What are you doing out here?" The Sky Dragon ignored him and became silent until he whispered inaudibly, "I remember." "What?" he said didn't catch what he said. "I remember what it was like to love someone, but another stole her away from me because of my false form." He said louder than before. "What? You were like me too?" He couldn't believe that the cold Cepheid was even talking to him.

"Yes, years ago, I was a warrior ready to battle my heart and soul out for the girl I fell in love, until one day, a mage appeared and fell in love with her too. We had different motives for our love. I loved the girl because she was my kind and the mage loved her for her money. We fought continuously throughout the month until he fixed a drink that had a potion turned me into a Sky Dragon. I was trying to tell her that was me under this form while the mage was making his moves and digging his way into her heart. She tried to find me, but couldn't. The next day when I appeared to her, she got scared and the mage jumped in and pushed me away from her. She fell in love with him and soon she decided to marry him. It broke my heart watching her marry a scum-filled fraud that I couldn't take it anymore until other warriors saw me and beaten me up while I flew away. I stayed in Fieg Snowfields recovering from my external and internal wounds until Master found me lying in my pool of blood and took me home. Slowly after that, my heart became colder and colder until it froze completely. I only trust my friends, Sol, Coco, Tikkle, Bud, Lisa, Master, and of course, you. Our Master was exactly like the girl I loved when she nursed my wounds and you're like me back then." He told the sad story.

"…" Blaze was extremely silent after that. Cepheid nodded slowly until his wings started to flap and he ascended into the air. "Wait, Cepheid!" Blaze called out realizing that he was going away. Cepheid stopped ascending and slowly descended towards the ground. "What is it?" he asked. "Could you help me find a way to turn me back to normal? Sol, Coco, and Tikkle are trying to help me turn back into my human form so I can keep Artemis away from Quince and beat him up for what he did to me. So, can you please help us?" he asked nicely, he never did that before. Cepheid was quiet for a while until he said, "Okay." "Great!" Blaze said nodding along.

"I'll teach you some moves only a Dragon can use so that way you can beat up this so called Quince while in your dragon form." He said wisely while Blaze's eyes grew big. "You can do that?" he questioned amazed. "Yes, now come." He said before flapping towards the exit. "Wait, where are you going?" he called out confused. "We're going with Master to Gato Grottoes." He replied back. "You're coming along?" he asked in disbelief. "Yes, I can't train you here. I can train you in Gato instead." He said before flying around the corner. "He's sure happy today." He said before running towards the front.

He sees Artemis with Cepheid in front of her while Escad was waiting by the gate. She turned her cheery face towards Blaze and asked him, "Do you want to come along with us?" He nodded while she smiled at him. "Okay, let's go." She said before running down the path towards Escad while Cepheid flew and Blaze ran his little feet off. He turned to see Lisa and Bud waving goodbye with a Sproutling and saw Coco, Sol, and Tikkle waving good luck.

(Gato Grottoes)

"Here we are." Escad said entering Gato Village. They walked up through the small village and towards the Temple of Healing. Escad went inside while Artemis stopped and said to her pets, "You two can walk around until I come back. Be nice okay?" They nodded before she went in after the Holy Knight. Cepheid said to Blaze, "Now, our training will begin. Follow me." He flew towards the terrace while Blaze tried to keep up.

Artemis went in the Dreamweaving Room to see Daena sitting on the bed where Matilda used to sleep on. "Daena!" she greeted happily. "Artemis! So glad to see you again!" she greeted back cheerily. Escad stood beside Daena while she stood in front of her. "So, what's going on?" she asked confused. "Well, 4 days ago, there was a sealed room in the Gato caves that used to seal up a monster back during the Human-Fairies War. However, it got out and started to ravage in the caves. We don't know how it got out since the seal was stronger than most seals. It attacked nuns that passed the caves while making trips to make the Holy Water we used for ceremonies." She explained seriously. "We don't know what it looks like, but we know that it's extremely powerful." She said bowing her head down. "Many nuns who have been attacked say that it looks like a big black shadow." Escad informed her. "A big black shadow?" she said to herself.

Meanwhile on the terrace, no one was there except a Sky Dragon and a Kid Dragon talking. "Ok, this is part one of the training. I'll get to teach you some moves every dragon monster should know. I can't teach you techniques that Sky Dragons know; only Land and Kid Dragons share the same thing." He explained while floating back and forth like pacing. "Okay, so what should I know?" he asked deeply confused. Cepheid turned to his left and blew a stream of blazing hot fire out of his mouth. Blaze watched in amazement before Cepheid stopped doing that. "That. In order for one to blow fire, one must be entirely angry to fuel the fire inside them." He said wisely. "What do you mean?" he asked more confused. "Think of Quince with Master and imagine him doing all of the stuff you just hate." He replied simply.

Fragments of the nightmare came into Blaze's mind filling him up with the hatred and anger making his head feels hot. He blew a stream of fire while Cepheid watched critically. He stopped while Cepheid flew closer to him. "That was good for beginner's luck. Now, the next technique is Headbutt." He said explaining all of the instructions while Blaze listened in carefully watching Cepheid show an example.

Back in the Dreamweaving Room, Daena and Artemis were talking while Escad listened in bored. "Abbess Daena!" a nun cried scared running into the room. "What's the matter?" she asked her worried. "Abbess, the monster is back! He's attacking a group of nuns outside of Gato Caves!" she said feared. "Escad, Artemis, come with me! We'll defeat this monster right here and now!" she said determined. She jumped off the bed and ran on her fours passed the nun with Escad and Artemis following her.

After 18 parts of the training, they stopped and heard commotion down in Gato Village. They looked over the terrace to see nuns running away from the caves and the three fighters running towards the caves. "It seems we're needed again." Cepheid said watching them run off. "We should help them!" Blaze said readied to fight. "Hop on my back and we'll fly there." He told him. Blaze nodded and jumped on his back while Cepheid took off flying towards the caves.

Artemis, Daena, and Escad were running down the pathway to the Gato Caves until they saw a huge black shadowy monster attacking a group of nuns, who were unconscious on the ground. "What is that?" Escad questioned. "It looks like a Kumori." Artemis said examining the shadowy beast. "We should defeat it quick and help the nuns." Daena said rushing in with her flail. Escad took out his 2H sword and Artemis took out her spear and they both rushed in together.

Blaze and Cepheid were gliding near the battle as they watched Artemis battled with her friends against the Kumori. "We should help them quick." Blaze said worried about Artemis. "I'll help the nuns escape and you'll help master in battle." Cepheid said gliding near the ground. Blaze jumped off his back while he flew towards the group of nuns, who were waking up, and guided them out of the area. He saw the Kumori threw Escad against a rock wall and threw Daena inside a cave while Artemis stabbed it with her spear. He tried to smash her with his fist as she jumped back to Blaze standing beside her. "Blaze, want to fight a monster?" she said seriously. He nodded as she rushed towards it with him behind her.

They battled hard and rough until the shadow beast, Kumori, fell down exhausted and extremely wounded from the battle. It disappeared into air as Artemis helped Escad and Daena up. Blaze was tired from the battle, but got some good experience in his dragon form. He watched Daena and Escad talk to Artemis before she nodded happily. She walked over towards me, bended to my eye level, and said, "It looks like we'll be staying here for a night since we need a rest from that long battle. Where's Cepheid?" At that cue, Cepheid flew towards us with a group of nuns following him. "Abbess Daena! Are you alright?" a nun asked concerned and worried. "I'm fine. We defeated the beast so there is nothing to worry about now." She assured them calmly. They cheered while they went back to the Temple with the three fighters.

Later that night, the Temple held a feast to celebrate the defeat of the Kumori. Cepheid and I got some really tasty fruit that nuns made for us. We followed Artemis to her room that Daena prepared for her incase she visits and watched her take off her armor. Cepheid flew to the top of an armoire and went to sleep standing up while I spent my time enjoying myself with Artemis. She gave me a smile before she started to talk to me about her adventures here in Gato. She sometimes let out a sad smile when she told the story of Rubens until she caught up to the time Niccolo drank the Holy Water and became drunk. I smiled throughout her stories until she let out a small yawn and said, "It's getting late. We better get back to bed. Goodnight, Blaze." She got into bed and pulled the covers over her and slept. I jumped on the bed and slept besides her while Cepheid started to snore loudly. '_I will turn back to normal, I won't let Quince steal Artemis away from me ever.' _He thought in his head until he slept into a tired sleep.

TBC

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That's the end. What did you think? The new chapter is coming up. 


	7. Chapter 7

Hi, everyone! Thanks for reviewing and reading my story. I hope this chapeter will pleases you more. I'll you see later. Enjoy!

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Walking Through Luon Highway

The next morning, Artemis was standing outside of the Temple of Healing holding a sleeping Blaze while Cepheid was floating behind her silently. Escad and Daena were standing in front of her outside of the door. "Thanks for coming to help us with that Kumori problem." Escad said fingering his trusty sword. "Right and we had lots of fun too. We hope you'll find Elazul soon and we'll call you if we found anything out." Daena said cheerily. "Thanks. We'll I better get back home. I'll see you soon. Bye!" she said happily before turning around and heading down the road. "See you later, Artemis!" she said waving goodbye with Escad. She turned around and waved back before disappearing out of their sight with Cepheid.

She got out of Gato Grottoes and was returning home by crossing Luon Highway. She held Blaze in her arms carefully while she kept an eye out for danger. She continued down the highway until she heard thunder crackled through the sky. She looked up to see heavy black clouds looming over her as she turned to Cepheid and said, "We should find some shelter and quick." He nodded before taking into the air finding a shelter. She ran following her trustworthy Sky Dragon until he stopped and floated in front of a cave. "Good job, Cepheid." She praised him while smiling. They went right in and settled down deep inside enough to see the entrance.

The thunder crackled again while it began to rain the highway. "And just in time." She added watching it rain holding Blaze close to her. As the rain started to drench the highway and everything on it, she sat across from a tired Cepheid rubbing Blaze's back gently. She shivered from the rain's coldness as she said, "It's so cold. I better start at fire." She spotted old twigs in the middle of the room and pulled out her Ivoryflute. She began to play a serene tone as the Salamander spirit came out and torched a fire on the twigs. The room lit with light as it filled her with heat. "That's better." She said holding her flute smiling.

She felt a tug and looked down to see Blaze twitching and sweating badly like he's having a nightmare. "It looks like he's having a nightmare. What to do?" she said to herself. She stopped when she saw her flute in her hand and smiled. In two seconds, she set up her drums, flutes, harps, and marimbas that she carried on her adventures. She set one instrument each on harmony and another on melody. She sat back down holding the Kid Dragon before she picked up her flute and started to play. The music came out peaceful as its sounds floated throughout the room soothing Blaze and Cepheid into a nice slumber. In the corner of her eye, she could see Jinns, Undines, Salamanders, and Dryads coming out of nowhere and began dancing nearby joyfully.

She continued to play as she watched Blaze calm down a little listening to the song. She saw Cepheid nodding his head every once in a while. The spirits started to dance around the cave illuminating the dark room with their glow. The Dryads danced creating flowers covering the hard gray walls while the Jinns twirled around creating some low winds that cooled the temperature. The Salamanders shot flames from their spears that lit the cave up while the Undines danced washing the lit flames away. She smiled watching her instruments play along while the spirits danced around them happily. She felt fatigue coming to her as she continued until she stopped playing the flute. She stopped her other instruments while the spirits disappeared afraid of getting captured. She lowered her flute to the ground as she laid her head against the wall and fell into slumber.

When she woke up from her short nap, she looked outside to see the rain stopped and the sun shining with its rays of light. She turned to her head to the entrance and saw a rabbit-eared merchant she shared her adventures with. "Hi, Niccolo." She greeted nicely while he walked up to her. "Hello, Artemis! Good to see you! What are you doing in a cold place like this? Do you want some matches that only costs 300 Lucre?" he asked about to advertise some box of matches. "No thanks. I came here to get some shelter from the rain that pouring some time ago." She replied answering his first question. "Really? Hey, I got a favor to ask of you." He said to her.

"What is it?" she asked curious. Mostly she got into trouble with the rabbit merchant around. "I got a buyer that is waiting to pick up some merchandise at the end of the highway. There are monsters lurking around and I heard that those thieves have a new leader." He explained quickly. "Great." She said remembering her first time on Luon Highway. "Anyway, could you help me?" he asked again. "Why not. I'll go with you, but I'll have to get prepared first. Can you wait for me outside?" she asked him. "No problem! I'll be outside if you need me." He said excited walking out with his head raised high.

She smiled before she sat Blaze down and laid him gently against the wall. She collected her stuff and put them in her travel bag. She walked over to Cepheid, who was still sleeping, and tapped him on the back. "Cepheid?" she urged quietly. He started to shake his head until he opened his eyes and looked up to her. "I'm going to help Niccolo with his problem. You and Blaze take care and have some fun until I come back. Okay?" she told the weary dragon. He nodded slowly before she smiled and said, "Thanks. I got to go. Bye." She stood up before she ran towards outside. She turned to see Niccolo waiting near the cave entrance. "Ready?" he asked. "Ready." She replied before they ran off into the road again.

In the cave, Cepheid got off the ground and started to float towards the sleeping Blaze. His tail poked him several times causing Blaze to swipe at the annoying object. "Wake up." He said waking him with his tail. He woke up alerted and jumped off the ground before he only found Cepheid and no other monsters. "What? What happened?" he asked confused of where they are. "We are on Luon Highway. You've been sleeping when we departed Gato and came to this cave." He explained seriously. "We're on Luon Highway? Where's Artemis? Where's she?" he asked worried aware of his crush's disappearance. "She left a moment ago to help Niccolo, a rabbit merchant. She told us to take care until she comes back." He told him. "Oh, so what should we do now?" he asked him. "We should find a way to help you find a cure." He said floating somewhere else. "Yeah, but we don't have any clues or help that we need." He said sighing sadly.

Cepheid was silent until he turned around and said, "I've got it." "What?" he questioned curiously. "We go to Gaeus the Earth, one of the seven wisdoms." He answered back. "Gaeus? How can he help us?" he asked confused more than ever. "He has answers to every problem and he could possibly know how to help turn you back to normal. With his help, you could turn back to human form." He explained thoroughly. "Alright, let's go see him!" he cheered excited to see Gaeus. "We are close to him, but the road ahead is full of monsters. I suggest you prepare yourself for what's up ahead." He suggested to the small dragon. "Okay." He muttered nodding to the older dragon's suggestion.

For a while, he readied himself until they took off going down the road towards Gaeus the Earth. They took on Chocobos and Rabites while Blaze practiced his new skills on the monsters. Cepheid turned all of them into snowmen before they were defeated and turned into experience crystals. "We are close." He whispered flying towards the road while Blaze ran with him. After all that training from Cepheid, he gained more agility that could make him fast like Coco.

They came upon a huge mountain that looked like a dead end. "There's a dead end." He cried hopelessly. Cepheid didn't speak as he floated in the middle of the rocky terrain. Filled with curiosity, he walked over where he was and stayed there. "Come, my children." A voice boomed loudly. He jumped high from fright while Cepheid stayed calm. He looked around searching for the source while Cepheid nodded signaling to proceed. The rocky terrain suddenly lifted from the ground making Blaze shake while he looked up to see a huge rocky face. "What is it that you seek?" he asked nicely. "We have come to find a cure that would help my little dragon friend here to turn back to his original human form. He has been changed due to a potion that a jealous fellow spiked in his medicine and caused him to turn this way." Cepheid explained the situation to Gaeus.

Gaeus pondered in silent thoughts until he said, "The only one who could help you is the sorcerers at the Academy of Magic in Geo. They will surely help your friend change back to his true form." "Thank you." He thanked him. "Come back, my children." He said before he lowered his hand to the ground again. It stopped before they left and Blaze asked, "So, the next thing to do is to go to the Academy of Magic and find a sorcerer that can make us the cure?" He nodded again and said, "We should find master and leave for home to discuss this with the group." Blaze nodded before they start off searching for Artemis.

"This is a long road." Artemis commented walking with Niccolo running into a monster every once in a while. They walked till they found a dead end where they first fought the boss. "This is it. Now, where's the buyer?" he said searching for the person. They looked around and found no one waiting for them. "They're not here. Do you think they went home?" she questioned. "Nonsense! I told him to meet me here for the merchandise at this time." He recalled. "Okay, we should wait until they show up." She suggested quickly.

They walked over to the middle to wait until two Chobin Hoods popped up from nowhere and exclaimed hungrily, "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! Gimme the cash!" "Not those two again!" Niccolo whined seeing the two monsters again. "I hate those kinds of people." She pulled something out of her pocket and threw it at them. It was a piece of pink-wrapped candy. "Here take it." She said with a serious expression. "Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah!" they chanted extremely angry that they were not be taken seriously. "What money grubbers!" Niccolo complained sighing. "Master! Come out and teach these two a lesson!" they both called out pleading for assistance.

A huge beast appeared knocking those two into the air while he screeched loudly causing the ground to shake. "It looks like we're having a fight." She said pulling out her spear quickly. Niccolo pulled out his gloves and put them on readied to fight. "Let's show this beast a thing or two." He said before starting to fight the monster. She twirled her spear in the air before she started out a quick attack. She used her agility to run as she stabbed it with her spear 24 times around. Niccolo used his Lightning Kick while Artemis used her Dragon's Bite. When Niccolo jumped to kick the monster in the face, it saw him and smacked him with its claw that sent him flying. "Niccolo!" she called out worried. "I hear someone calling me." He muttered subconsciously while flying until he hit a boulder.

She turned towards the monster to see it leering at her. It tried to strike her, but she dodged it with her back-flip. She ran up to the monster before jumping high with her moonsault and took out her woodharp. She started to move her fingers across the strings as the cords made an angelic song. The Dryad spirit appeared before a coconut tree appeared and threw its coconuts towards the unaware beast. After she landed on the ground behind the beast, she began another Lancer attacked and threw her spear at full speed. It pierced into its skin making the creature scream in pain.

It growled angrily throwing the spear away and punched Artemis with its one hand forcefully. She was pushed towards a dead tree while she slid towards the ground exhausted. It turned around and started to walk towards her showing its pearly whites readying to eat his main course. She tried to stand, but she fell on her knees hurt from the impact. With each step, the rocks and trees shook roughly like an earthquake while she kept trying to fight back. It stood in front of her before it started to reach for the fallen mercenary. Before it even got close to her, it felt a powerful blow to his side that cut him off from what it was doing. It turned his head angrily to see a recovered Niccolo holding his fists up readied to kick butt. Niccolo used his Bloody Knuckles while the monster screamed again and ducked to the right.

Artemis stood up finally and got her spear to support her like a walking cane. "You alright?" Niccolo asked. She nodded slowly turning towards the monster. It wiped the blood from his side letting its hand get caked. Before it even got to strike first, he was attacked by green beams and shot at by fireballs coming from the air making it recoil from the sudden attack. They looked confused before they looked up to see Blaze riding on Cepheid's back while he was gliding towards the battle. "Blaze! Cepheid!" she called out happily to see her pets okay. A pained-filled scream boomed over the highway making them turn to see the beast turning into a frozen snowman. After it defrosted later, it fainted turning into a huge fireball letting it blaze the area with heat, then dispersing into smoke. "Alright!" she cheered joyfully raising her spear in victory.

"There you are!" a cold male's voice said. They turned to see a familiar dog-faced dragoon walking towards them. "Mr. Larc!" Niccolo cheerily exclaimed happy to see his customer. "Larc?" she said stunned before she cheered and ran towards him giving him a full tight hug. "It is you! How are you doing?" Blaze was fuming mad while Cepheid petted him with his wing. Larc laughed a little before he responded, "I'm fine. How are you?" "Great!" she said happily.

"What are doing here? You're supposed to meet Niccolo?" "Yes, I'm buying some things that I need to temper for my axe." He replied sounding seriously. "Oh." She said understanding him. Niccolo walked up to him holding out a package filled with iron and said, "Well, Mr. Larc, here your ten pieces of Iron. That would be 40, 000 Lucre." "What?" Larc questioned intimidating the rabbit. He snarled showing his razor-sharp pointy teeth, his hands filled with spiky claws, and his axe shone to show its perfect sharpness that could slice a piece a hair in half. Niccolo shook with fear and stuttered scared, "O-On a-another hand, I-I'll t-take 4,000 Lucre." "Deal." He said before handing him the Lucre and took the package from the frightened merchant. "I better go! See you!" he exclaimed hurriedly running down the road away from the dragoon.

Artemis giggled a little while Larc laughed putting the package away in his bag. "How are you doing? You've seen Sierra?" he asked her. "I'm fine and I've seen Sierra a few days ago. She's good, too." She replied nicely. "Anyway, I'm going now." He said before turning to leave. "Wait, where are you going?" she asked him curiously. "I'm going to Domina and find some items I need." He answered her back politely. "Really? That's on my way home. I'll go with you. Is that okay?" she said wanting to spend time with her dragoon friend. "Sure, come." He said. They started to walk to Domina while Blaze fumed jealously in the back with a calm Cepheid.

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That's the end. What did you think? Send your thoughts if you want to. The next chapter is coming up. 


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